This book provides a fresh account of the changing nature of work and how workers are changing as result of the requirements of contemporary working life. It explores the implications for preparing individuals for work and maintaining their skills throughout working life. This is done by examining the relations between the changing requirements for working life and how individuals engage in work.

Section 1 -Introduction.- Work, change and workers.- Section 2 - Social and individual bases for understanding work life.- Cultural, situational and individual geneses of work life.- A relational basis for understanding work life.- The worth of work.- Section 3 - Changing concepts and requirements of work.- Changes in available work.- Changing participation in work.- Changing composition of paid workforces.- Changing requirements for work performance.- Section 4 - Describing and elaborating work.- A framework for describing work.- Changing work practice and work requirements: Case studies.- Work, learning and identity.